Danish cartoon row - Can
Malaysia play a role to help bridge the global misunderstanding of
religions, cultures and civilizations?

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Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang________________________________

(Parliament,
Tuesday): The dozen insensitive and
offensive Danish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad sparking global outrage in
the era of ICT and globalization must be deplored by all right-thinking
people in the world.

The ensuing
and continuing violence and deaths from the protests, with Lebanon having
to apologise to Denmark for the burning of its consulate in Beirut, have
highlighted the urgent need for moderates from all faiths, governments,
countries and international organizations to come forward to restore calm,
dialogue and understanding and not to allow extremists from both ends of the
spectrum to hijack the agenda.

Can Malaysia
as a multi-religious nation and Chairman of the Organisation of Islamic
Conference (OIC) play a role to help bridge the global misunderstanding of
religions, cultures and civilizations?

This should be
the challenge for all Malaysians, regardless of creed or political
affiliation.

Education
Minister and UMNO Youth leader Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has demanded
the resignation of the editor-in-chief of Sarawak Tribune and its suspension
while the Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin called for firm
action by the Internal Security Ministry to ensure that the country’s
mainstream media was free of deviationists and agents provocateurs.

The Sarawak
Tribune has apologized for the “oversight” in publishing one of the
offensive Danish cartoons and the editor-on-duty has resigned in apology.
With this assumption of responsibility, there is no need for any
witch-hunt on the Sarawak Tribune case, especially when the Deputy Internal
Security Minister, Datuk Noh Omar had himself not gone as far as the
Sarawak Tribune editor-on-duty to tender his resignation to make amends for
a big blunder which he had committed.